In 2016, reverse vending machines arrived in Spain for the first time but have not quite taken hold among Spaniards. The reason is very simple: in Germany the machines return 25 cents per package, while in Spain they return only 1 cent.
The idea is not new, in the eighties you would take three liter caps to the store and leave with a full bottle without paying a penny, but this practice disappeared due to the advent of non-returnable containers. Regardless of one’s environmental awareness, receiving money for recycling packaging is common in more than 40 countries. Germany, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Belgium, the Netherlands and Canada have had this in mind for years.
A clear example is Germany, a pioneer in recycling since 2003, when it began to implement a system called Pfand, the first step of the DRS, whereby supermarkets literally pay for the return through these machines located for this purpose in their facilities. The devices read the label on each container, weigh it and automatically assign a value to it. This enables instant crediting of between 8 and 15 cents for each reusable container and up to 25 cents for single-use containers.
The initiative means that up to 98.5% of packaging is recovered in Germany, according to data from Retorna, which brings together recycling companies, environmental organizations, consumer associations and others. Spaniards use 51 million containers every day, a figure similar to that of Germany, which has twice our population.
Denmark, the Netherlands and Norway stand out for their high packaging recycling figures. Specifically, 99.5% of soft drink and beer bottles are returned in Denmark, in the Netherlands 98% of glass and 99% of PET are reusable; while in Norway the amount reaches 98% for beer and soft drink bottles.
European manufacturers are required by law to pay for the management and disposal of 100% of their waste, especially their packaging. But in Spain it is very different, since a single company, Ecoembes, monopolizes the management of the entire process through the Integrated Management System (SIG). Companies pay Ecoembes for each container they place in stores and Ecoembes, in turn, pays the municipalities, which are responsible for processing.
Ecoembes is responsible for collecting all types of waste and charges for all packaging, although it only pays for those that are suitable for recycling. The company opposes recycling based on the DRS because it considers it to be a much more costly system with no significant environmental benefits that would also increase prices.
Meanwhile, Retorna claims that 30 million containers are abandoned every day throughout Spain. In addition, most consumers are unaware that they also pay for recycling, at least for packaging bearing the Green Dot (two crossed arrows), which indicates that the producer company has paid a fee for this purpose that is passed on to each person who buys the product.
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